China 144-hour and 72 hour Transit visa-free Policy TWOV

China has a few different visa-free transit schemes, also known as transit without visa (TWOV.) The most common is the 72 hours TWOV, however certain Chinese cities now allow many passport holders to stay for 144 hours = 6 days.

It allows passengers from 53 countries or regions to transit in the above cities or provinces for no more than 144 hours (6 days) or 72 hours (3 days) without holding a visa. Note you must be coming from and leaving to a different country, to be eligible. Details further.

144 Hour TWOV

The 144-hour visa-free transit policy is valid for entry points in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong.

72 hour TWOV

You can obtain this visa in Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shenyang, Dalian, Xian, Guilin, Kunming and Hangzhou.

Passengers should hold an onward ticket with a confirmed seat and date as well as a valid visa to a third country or region. In this case, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are considered as third regions.

Country A – China – Country B is valid. (e.g. Hong Kong – Shanghai – Tokyo)Country A – China – Country A is not valid. (e.g. Sydney – Beijing – Sydney)
Passengers are required to enter and leave from the eligible transit ports (which is basically every airport, train station, and cruise terminal with international connections), but the entry port and exit port do not have to be the same.

The layover time should be limited to 72 or 144 hours. However, the free stay period counts from 00:00 of the day following passengers’ arrival. So if you arrive at 4:00 am on April 1, the layover time actually counts from 0:00 of April 2 and it means your stay is longer than 144 hours.

Documents needed for application:

• Valid passport from one of the above countries with 6+ mos validity and empty page